Brave New World – Prompt #1 (Quote 10)
While some satirical novels are simply expressions of personal feelings, Aldous Huxley used blatant mockery and criticism to raise attention to the path he felt society was and possibly still is headed down. Huxley does not want the reader to literally believe society has become the "utopia" described in Brave New World but rather hopes to attract attention to the aspects of the brave new world displayed in today's society.
Throughout the novel, a "utopian" civilization is depicted using stanch detail of characters, settings, and viewpoints. This lifestyle initially seems far from today’s approach to living. John Savage describes just how different he believes the two worlds are by confessing that "I don't want comfort. I want God, I want poetry, I want real danger, I want freedom, I want goodness. I want sin." This quote summarizes the satirical feel in Brave New World by creating a sense of utter ridicule towards this "utopian" society.
In the quote, John blatantly mocks how controlling the government has become. Citizens are no longer allowed to be free or even to know what freedom is. Before a child is born, their ranking in society is predetermined. They shall grow up to be a “success” or a “failure” and learn to enjoy it. As children, citizens of Brave New World are conditioned to dislike nature and books. Individuality is of no importance after all in a society based on consumption. While today’s society does not take predestination and conditioning to such extremes, certain aspects are drifting towards Brave New World’s society. After grade school in many countries, children are split into various levels of education. South Korea splits its citizens from a young age into students who follow a vocational path and students who will partake in further education. It is true that Huxley mocks the lifestyle of the citizens in Brave New World by claiming they have no freedom while in reality, today’s society is taking away some of the very basic choices in life.
In addition, John asks for both “goodness” and “sin.” Brave New World is once again mocked, but this time for destroying the line between good and evil. No action can be defined as either in Brave New World since the government does not allow sin to be acknowledged. John believes the citizens are not truly living because they are not allowed to find happiness through good deeds and sadness through evil ones. Today’s society has itself diminished this definition between goodness and sin, however. Late night talk shows openly attack actions of politicians and celebrities. Movies portray and emphasize cliques within schools. Religions ridicule one another’s beliefs. The line between what is good and bad in today’s society has all but vanished.
The strongest use of mockery, however, may come from John’s initial statement. He rejects the comfort the citizens of Brave New World enjoy. Nights are typically spent by partaking in vulgar fraternizations or attending movies that attract all senses. Life holds no difficulties due to the delightful experiences created by soma. John disapproves of these actions because the happiness is not deserved in his opinion. Today’s society, however, drifts rapidly towards this extreme. Bad occurrences in a person’s life are no longer counteracted by positive thoughts or actions but rather by the use of less desirable fixations. Alcohol can deaden the pain in life while drugs can nearly take away all problems. Just as in Brave New World, when these effects disappear, reality sets back in. Today’s society has created its own distractions from reality that allow people to escape all problems. Mockery of such a lifestyle now becomes ironic.
Even in 1932, Huxley realized how disastrous today’s society would become. The inability society has to recognize its faults, Huxley explains, will inevitably lead to its failure of acknowledging flaws. Huxley saw the path society was, and in some cases still is, headed down and attempts to change such viewpoints through this novel.
(Originally posted on Personal Gaggle Blog on August 29th, 2007)
While some satirical novels are simply expressions of personal feelings, Aldous Huxley used blatant mockery and criticism to raise attention to the path he felt society was and possibly still is headed down. Huxley does not want the reader to literally believe society has become the "utopia" described in Brave New World but rather hopes to attract attention to the aspects of the brave new world displayed in today's society.
Throughout the novel, a "utopian" civilization is depicted using stanch detail of characters, settings, and viewpoints. This lifestyle initially seems far from today’s approach to living. John Savage describes just how different he believes the two worlds are by confessing that "I don't want comfort. I want God, I want poetry, I want real danger, I want freedom, I want goodness. I want sin." This quote summarizes the satirical feel in Brave New World by creating a sense of utter ridicule towards this "utopian" society.
In the quote, John blatantly mocks how controlling the government has become. Citizens are no longer allowed to be free or even to know what freedom is. Before a child is born, their ranking in society is predetermined. They shall grow up to be a “success” or a “failure” and learn to enjoy it. As children, citizens of Brave New World are conditioned to dislike nature and books. Individuality is of no importance after all in a society based on consumption. While today’s society does not take predestination and conditioning to such extremes, certain aspects are drifting towards Brave New World’s society. After grade school in many countries, children are split into various levels of education. South Korea splits its citizens from a young age into students who follow a vocational path and students who will partake in further education. It is true that Huxley mocks the lifestyle of the citizens in Brave New World by claiming they have no freedom while in reality, today’s society is taking away some of the very basic choices in life.
In addition, John asks for both “goodness” and “sin.” Brave New World is once again mocked, but this time for destroying the line between good and evil. No action can be defined as either in Brave New World since the government does not allow sin to be acknowledged. John believes the citizens are not truly living because they are not allowed to find happiness through good deeds and sadness through evil ones. Today’s society has itself diminished this definition between goodness and sin, however. Late night talk shows openly attack actions of politicians and celebrities. Movies portray and emphasize cliques within schools. Religions ridicule one another’s beliefs. The line between what is good and bad in today’s society has all but vanished.
The strongest use of mockery, however, may come from John’s initial statement. He rejects the comfort the citizens of Brave New World enjoy. Nights are typically spent by partaking in vulgar fraternizations or attending movies that attract all senses. Life holds no difficulties due to the delightful experiences created by soma. John disapproves of these actions because the happiness is not deserved in his opinion. Today’s society, however, drifts rapidly towards this extreme. Bad occurrences in a person’s life are no longer counteracted by positive thoughts or actions but rather by the use of less desirable fixations. Alcohol can deaden the pain in life while drugs can nearly take away all problems. Just as in Brave New World, when these effects disappear, reality sets back in. Today’s society has created its own distractions from reality that allow people to escape all problems. Mockery of such a lifestyle now becomes ironic.
Even in 1932, Huxley realized how disastrous today’s society would become. The inability society has to recognize its faults, Huxley explains, will inevitably lead to its failure of acknowledging flaws. Huxley saw the path society was, and in some cases still is, headed down and attempts to change such viewpoints through this novel.
(Originally posted on Personal Gaggle Blog on August 29th, 2007)